News

9 March 2013

The Euro-area crisis and the austerity policies prescribed by European institutions have led, in many EU countries, to systematic attacks on social dialogue and labour law provisions. More than 530 social and labour lawyers – nearly all with an academic affiliation – have signed a manifesto in protest at these developments. In the body of this document, signatories urge the European Union to respect and promote fundamental social rights, particularly in the context of crisis-related policy measures.

The manifesto signatories come from 31 different European countries (including also Croatia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey) .

A comprehensive overview of how the Euro-area crisis is being used to deregulate existing labour laws and to undermine collective bargaining systems in most European countries can be found in the recent ETUI publication The crisis and national labour law reforms: a mapping exercise (with regular country-by-country updates published on the ETUI website).

The ETUI organises on 13 March a special Monthly Forum where the initiators of the manifesto will explain their objectives and present ideas on next steps. You can register for this Monthly Forum via this link.